[The place of Gelineau's syndrome (narcolepsy) among diurnal attacks of sleep and somnolence (author's transl)].

A clinical and electroencephalographic study was conducted in 41 patients (25 men and 16 women) complaining of diurnal attacks of sleep, and the results were compared with those obtained in 15 control subjects (7 men and 8 women) of the same age. EEG tracings were recorded during 33 hours in each subject. The total duration of the various phases of nocturnal sleep and the mean duration of each phase were the same in both groups. The incidence of EEG peculiarities, such as short delay in the onset of sleep and in the first stage of desynchronized sleep, and prolonged nocturnal periods of vigilance, was assessed in both groups, but no correlation was found between clinical and electrical data. The three criteria of Gelineau's syndrome (irresistible sleepiness, cataplexy and onset of sleep in desynchronized phase) were present in 35% of the patients.